


Occupational Hazards

by HematiteBadger



Category: King Falls AM (Podcast)
Genre: M/M, Tumblr Ask Box Fic, shameless fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-09
Updated: 2016-07-09
Packaged: 2018-07-22 14:24:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7442638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HematiteBadger/pseuds/HematiteBadger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's not always easy for Sammy to keep his mind on the job.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Occupational Hazards

**Author's Note:**

  * For [harpers_mirror (SapphireBryony)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SapphireBryony/gifts).



> Originally posted on Tumblr as Tabbyclaw. For the prompt: "You're an idiot. I've met smarter sandwiches."

“Yes, Cynthia, your opinion has been noted. How about the rest of you, King Falls? We’re taking your calls about the proposed General Abilene Memorial Center and Gift Shop that the King Falls Board of Tourism wants to build in Sweitzer Forest. Tell us what you think!”

“Yeah, maybe _somebody_ can drill it into Sammy’s head what a _terrible_ idea this is.” Ben folds his arms and glares at Sammy, smugly sulking, waiting for the town to chime in and prove him right.

“I really don’t see what the big deal is,” Sammy replies calmly, leaning forward and resting his chin on his hand, trying to hide a smile. “They’re just trying to build up interest in a local historical site by honoring a local legend.”

“ _Exploiting_ a local legend, you mean,” Ben snaps back.

“Now come on, that’s a little extreme.” Sammy puts on his best ‘I’m being the reasonable one’ voice, not hard to do when Ben is the other party. He’ll be the first to admit that this argument is probably going south in a hurry, but he has three very good reasons for keeping it up. The first is that he genuinely thinks Ben is overreacting. The second is that he’s learned over the course of his career that even mild bickering gets way better ratings than agreeing to disagree.

The third is that Ben is _really attractive_ when he gets worked up like this.

The feeling is, Sammy hopes, not as gross or condescending as it sounds. Ben isn’t ‘cute when he’s mad.’ He’s ‘attractive when he’s passionate,’ even when that passion is seething indignation. He’s a man with big thoughts and big emotions, and watching him channel them is… well, it’s becoming an occupational hazard. There are nights when it’s difficult to keep his mind on the ridiculous topic at hand, and it looks like this is going to be another one.

“Trust me; you don’t know the Board of Tourism like I do,” Ben assures him. “They’ll do anything to make a buck off of every idiot ghost hunter that wanders through the state. They have absolutely no respect for General Abilene and they’re just trying to use him. It’s rude, and-and disrespectful, and it’s gonna _insult_ him – god, you think it’s hard getting through Sweitzer Forest _now_ …”

“Maybe they can market that as part of the experience,” Sammy muses, half to himself. “‘Get lost in history.’” Okay, now even he knows he’s pushing it too far.

“You’re an idiot,” Ben says flatly. “I’ve met smarter sandwiches.”

“If you’re talking about the sandwiches from the weird food truck, I believe you.” Yeah, definitely too far. “Okay, folks, I’m pretty sure we’re due for a commercial about now,” Sammy says, cutting off Ben’s nascent protest. “We’re gonna pay some bills while Ben calms down—”

“ _I am perfectly calm_.”

“And then we’ll be back to take more of your calls.” Sammy reaches across the control panel and hits the button to switch the feed. “That was not my finest hour,” he admits before Ben can say anything.

“No it wasn’t,” Ben agrees huffily, but hearing it from Sammy has softened his irritation. Sammy waits for a moment, and then Ben sighs. “I guess I could have handled myself better, too.” He takes a couple deep breaths and settles more calmly into his chair. “You know how I get,” he says, half apology and half accusation.

“Yeah, I do, buddy,” Sammy says, putting his hand affectionately over Ben’s. “And you know I’m not great at resisting the bait.” It’s equally not entirely an apology; both of them know that neither of them is going to stop being themselves any time soon.

Ben twines their fingers together, looking like he’s considering bringing their joined hands to his lips before professionalism wins out and he lets go. He eyes the little light that’s going to signal the end of the break pretty soon. “You ready to try acting like grownups again?” There’s a sigh in his voice that says he’s still pretty annoyed, but he’s trying to get over it.

“Tell you what,” Sammy says. “I’m gonna hit up Twitter and see if there’s anything else going on in town. Maybe we can find a new topic that we’re both less sore about.”

“Good call,” Ben agrees. “There’s gotta be some news out there that you’re not going to be _completely_ wrongheaded about.”

“Oh, for god’s sake,” Sammy sighs, exasperated laughter bubbling up in his chest as he grabs Ben by the wrist and pulls him into a kiss, professionalism be damned.

The contented sound Ben makes against his lips belies the way he rolls his eyes when he pulls away, pointing to the light. “You’re still an idiot,” he murmurs as he sits back once again.

“Yeah,” Sammy agrees, unconcerned. “But I’m _your_ idiot.”


End file.
